Travel and Fast in Ramadan – What and How

A2: Ramadhan is an obligatory month for Muslims to fast for the whole month beginning at dawn and end with sunset. By fasting, Muslims refrain from eating and drinking during daylight hours and it is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and submissiveness to Allah. There is an also special nightly prayer called Tarawih prayers. This is a month where Muslims grab the opportunity to get closer to its Creation.

One companion of the Prophet spoke about Ramadhan, saying, “I heard the Messenger of Allah say during Ramadhan: ‘The gates of Hell are closed, the gates of Paradise are opened, and the devils are in chains. An angel calls out: ‘O you who intend to do good deeds, have glad tidings. O you who intend to do evil, refrain, until Ramadhan is completed.”

Q3: Who shall fast?

A3: Fasting is obligatory upon every sane, adult, healthy Muslims male who is not travelling at the time. As for a woman, she must not be menstruating or having post child-birth bleeding. People who are insane, minors, and those whore are travelling, menstruating or going through post childbirth bleeding and the elderly and breast feeding or pregnant women do not need to observe the fast.

Q4: Do travellers have to fast?

A4: It is allowed for those who are not chronically ill and for travellers to break their fasts during Ramadhan, but they must make up the days they missed. Allah says in the Qur’an: “And for him who is sick among you or on a journey, the same number of other days”. Although Muslim travellers are given the concession to not fast, if the traveller finds strength within him to fast, there is no blame upon him.

According to the jurist, ash-Shaf’i, whose opinions are in line with Abu Hanifah and Malik, if one has the ability to fast, it is better for him to do so, and if one does not have the ability to fast, it is better for him to break the fast.

Tips for fasting while travelling

1. Consider your mode of travelling – It could be air travel, land travel or by sea travel. This plays an important criteria as to how toughen you should prepare yourself up during the fasting month. Air travel is easy to get by. But tremendous hours on the road will absorb extra energy from your inner strength.

2. Find a mosque and determine prayer times – This needs a little research before hand depending on how many stops you intend to make. Useful when you are travelling to a destination with time difference.

3. Always drink plenty of water the night before fasting to avoid dehydration.

4. Find halal eating places or bring enough food stock to last you while travelling.

5. Remember, you can always break your fast but you have to make up for the missed days.

6. Know the Muslim localities in the town you are travelling. I’ve come across few person who have been invited for iftar during ramadhan by the locals.

Ramadan, the holy month for Muslims where we Muslims are required to fast during daylight or in other words, between dawn and sunset. I was in Shanghai a few years back and yes it was Ramadan at that time. I had no choice but to travel during the period because I was fulfilling my job requirement to attend a trade show there. The Shanghai World Expo was coincidently being held during the same time and it was way too hard for me to resist it. Due to the fact that the expo spread through a huge area of nearly 5 square km overall, I had to prepare myself for it. Just before dawn, I consumed a few tuna sandwiches, some fruits plus a bottle of milk to keep me energetic during the day. I wondered around the expo area the whole day since morning and by the time the clock hit 3pm, I started feeling exhausted. Thoughts of breaking my fast was playing in my mind at that time but I kept reminding myself that it’s just a few hours more until iftar time. Instead of walking outdoor, I spend most of the time indoor to avoid being dehydrated. I set my route to reach the Malaysian pavilion near to iftar time hoping to break my fast at the café there. Unfortunately the Malaysian pavilion does not serve halal food! With the help of a few Malay traditional dancers there, I made my way to the Brunei pavilion where I managed to get myself a set of Nasi Katok for iftar.

Traveling during Ramadan might be quite tough for some people as it will limit your movements, but for me it is still not impossible. As a musafir, we are permitted to abstain from the fast of Ramadan but it is meritorious for those who did it. Nevertheless the qada of the fast missed will still have to be made.